Treating irritable bowel syndrome is notoriously difficult because the cause is elusive. This common digestive disorder affects up to one in 10 people and it is characterised by abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea or constipation but symptoms vary as do responses to diet … Read More
It’s true – people thrive in certain jobs because of their personality type
Psychologists think you’re doing the job you’re doing because of your personality. Do you believe that? Well researchers analysed the personality profiles of thousands of people across more than 250 jobs to learn how personality shapes – and can be … Read More
Artificial Intelligence helps to identify muscle ageing genes for first time
One of the most prominent effects of ageing is weakening of muscles and loss of muscle mass, strength and endurance. But if we knew which genes were responsible for muscle ageing could we delay it? A study by Nottingham Trent … Read More
Benefits to treating strokes earlier with blood thinners
Recently a girlfriend of mine had a stroke. She was discovered to have atrial fibrillation but wasn’t given an anticoagulant. As a result she developed a clot, as people with AF will, hence the stroke. She was lucky. The clot … Read More
Sport concussion update a big winner
Turns out I have a special interest in this latest advice about concussion during sports. I’ve been tracking updates ever since one of my sons, who played school rugby, was concussed during a match. Pitch-side attention to such episodes was … Read More
Artificial Intelligence reading ECGs to predict heart attacks and patient deaths
Artificial Intelligence is revolutionising medical research with new discoveries, not least those revealing the secrets of ECGs (electrocardiograms) that our eyes can’t see. And in doing so AI can predict the risk of developing heart disease, and even the risk of early … Read More
Fewer occasional smokers are highly motivated to give up the habit completely
Even though the proportion of people who don’t smoke every day has increased over the past 20 years, smoking is still a subject for discussion. And according to a new study the proportion that are motivated to quit smoking is … Read More
Surprising health knock-on effects of moving the clocks forward and back an hour
Attention all insomniacs. A new study has found moving the clocks one hour forward in spring and one hour back in autumn has a short-lived, though substantial effect on how long we sleep. The University of Bristol-led study analysed sleep data from … Read More
Liver discovery could lead to better heart treatments
The liver is one of the most important organs in the body. It’s a detox factory breaking down potentially harmful chemicals into harmless ones, including drugs and alcohol. But that’s not all. We now know it also flushes out cholesterol … Read More
Can parents’ jobs trigger autism in their children?
Autism spectrum disorder, ASD, can run in families, but rather than being inherited could it be down to a parent’s job and the skills they need to do their job, affecting their children? Sounds far-fetched? Well, I thought so till … Read More